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Hemophage
"They stalk the night", he said. ''Slang terms: Fangs, Vamps/vampires, Hemos, Creeps'' Hemophages have existed hand-in-hand with humanity since sometime around the 900s CE, emerging from a horrible, virulent disease in a certain township in an Earth country called Romania - Hunedoara. According to their oral history, the earliest days were the most horrible - the first hemophages were born to human women, and lack of understanding and panic saw some of these women or some of the children stoned or staked to death, and their bodies burned. In a single generation, hemophages outnumbered humans within Hunedoara, and soon myths of vampire spread throughout eastern Europe. In time, a social revolution occurred within a country called Rosya, wherein a faction of humans favoring royalty and aristocracy battled a faction favoring universal equality and industry. Within the former faction were many Hunyadi hemophages, having quietly struggled to have some recognition in the region. In one bloody revolution, they ousted the public interest party, harrying them so hard as to force them to flee across an ocean. In the aftermath, over some two hundred years, they manoeuvred themselves into the regency of Rosya. In the meantime, a separatist legend, Father Ladiszlas, took his direct family and his allies and purchased Earth's moon. At the time, this seemed laughable and was met with public mockery and outrage - "Nobody owns the moon!" was a common slogan of protest, then - but what had happened was irreversible. Attempts to invade the Luna colony were met with matter-of-fact statements regarding the resources on hand and the ease with which Earth could be bombarded from that position. The clout of hegemony remained present for some time, though the threat was only executed once, in a display of rivalry between Rosya and Luna. While originally all hemophages referred to themselves culturally as strigoi, this difference in diet and attitude led to a different term being used for the Lunar colonists - moroi, though they also often called themselves separatists, expatriates, or Ladiszlians. These Ladiszlians became the kinder public face of hemophagy, as they also fostered a diet focusing on the drinking of heavily-enriched milk to satisfy their nutritional needs. For every report of horrors committed against humanity by hemophages in Rosya, Luna contributed grain to Terran regions in need and otherwise assisted relief efforts globally. Relations continued in this manner until Rosyan hemophages converted their towering, byzantine palaces into starships and left Earth. As humanity began colonizing more and more remote regions of space, Ladiszlians went with them. Ladiszlians made for particularly reliable early colonists given their relatively easy dietary needs, and so they can be found virtually anywhere. Rosyan hemophages, on the other hand, are only encountered in their horrific palaces, now often deep within space or adrift between star systems. Physiology Hemophages exist as a hybrid entity by nature - the symbiotic relationship between fungus and animal so thoroughly suffuses them that to remove one would have an immediate, fatal effect on the other. Time has seen the hemophage shift physically, initially virtually indistinguishable from mankind, the hemophage now can almost not be mistaken for human. Taller and leaner than humans, with longer, sinewy limbs, hemophages also have hyperactive development of the serratus major, trapezius, and deltoid muscles, and a braided texture to the musculature of the cheek. Hemophages are capable of lowering their jaws almost to their collarbones, and with the powerful musculature on their jaws can deliver bites of 7000 kPa or more. However, while the muscles drawing their bite are very strong, the muscles that open a hemophage's mouth are typically very weak, and they can be muzzled rather easily for inmate transport. All hemophages have extremely large pupils, likely due to adaptation to see better in low-light conditions. Typically, their eyes are black, or silver; within the moroi community, there are also gold eyes, and within the strigoi community, there are also blue eyes. Gold eyes are a notable characteristic of the descendants of Ladiszlas. Blue eyes are a characteristic of the Nagy, Tepesz, Lilu, and Pisaca families. Hemophages exhibit a certain shift in morphology as they age. While hemophages are not undead, they have proven capable of very long lifespans; the "Great Father" of the Ladiszlians is rumored to still be alive, somewhere, and he would easily be ten thousand years of age or older. The prevailing theory is that active photosynthesis is what predominantly contributes to a hemophage's physical age, and the relatively youthful appearance of hemophages who hibernate for long periods of time or favor dark conditions would seem to confirm this. Age sees hemophages losing hair, regardless of sex. Both genders also have cranial growth and a matted texture to their skin from age, as fungus begins membraning their skin externally. Age can also bring further lengthening of the hand and finger, and often imparts a significant stoop or hunch. Hemophages are incapable of digesting solid food. Remember to initiate a flow of oil to cut the paste to a hemophage's cell, or otherwise they are likely to suffer illness or injury from constipation. Mechanics Being a hemophage - either a Ladiszlian separatist or "old world loyalist" introduces a new fundamental mechanic to an inmate: Heat. All hemophages have a maximum heat of 5. Heat is gained by taking advantage of a hemophage's velocity, or through overexposure to ultraviolet light. Heat is lost most rapidly by remaining inactive in a cool location, but acting at the same speed as a normal human will bleed excess heat off over time. While hemophages are normally quite pale, at heat 5 they are flushed bright red and often coated with a slick sheen of sweat. Once a hemophage builds heat to 5, they are capable of continuing to perform as before, but any feats of velocity or other heat-building activities will cause them to steam off their sweat or briefly burst into flames, suffering damage for overexerting themselves without cooling down first. Instinct and impulse render hemophages capable of a clarity and rapidity of action difficult for all outside the most hardened psychic or speed-wired posthuman to match. Due to millennia of difference in diet affecting their physiognomy, separatists and loyalists have fundamental differences in how they are able to apply this speed. ---- 'Ladiszlian separatists' The "Lunar" hemophages, or moroi. '' Slang terms: Mooninites, Moon-men, Loonies Lunar hemophagy costs '''3 character benefits '''to purchase during character creation. Lunar hemophages receive the following characteristic adjustments: *'+3 DEX, +3 SIZ.' Time without a prey dynamic has changed separatists. They are as tall as any other hemophage, and mostly as nimble, but their physiques no longer demand a particular musculature of themselves. *Separatists are very fast. They are not, however, as fast as old world hemophages. Separatists can build heat through the following feats of speed: **Double Dodge % vs one attack, or use the Dodge skill more than once in a round. Each additional Dodge builds heat by 1. **Commit to any number of Parries in one round. This builds heat by 1. **Ensure an automatic impale if a melee attack hits. This builds heat by 1. **Perform a feat of mobile velocity, such as a rapid sprint, long jump, or wall run. Again, this builds heat by 1 per round of rapid action. *'-2 POW'. Hemophages do not have the same psychic potential as humans. However, remember that if one begins buying hemotypal psychic abilities, this penalty is alleviated over time. * Hemophages eat not for energy, but for nutrition. They instead propagate their energy reserves through exposure to light. As a result, a certain amount of skin exposure is most comfortable for a hemophage depending on ultraviolet conditions within their environment. They are also effectively cold-blooded, though their activity cycle is more strongly determined via light absorption than thermal energy. **In bright, direct ultraviolet light, hemophages begin overproducing energy to where their photosynthetic epidermis begins burning away, both damaging them and immediately throwing them into severe heat exhaustion. Many hemophages cover up in broad daylight, but doing so also risks heat exhaustion. The best situation for them is to remain indoors and cuddle an air conditioning vent. **In moderate light, risk of burnout is only an issue if a hemophage falls prey to the instinctive 'high activity' cycle their bodies will encourage them to. They might seem manic or hyperactive. **In dim light, hemophages typically begin to expose more skin, whether through rolling sleeves up, loosening collars, or removing exterior garments. If the dim light is accompanied by low temperatures, usually they will be driven even more to draw in what light there is, simply to keep warm. **In darkness, hemophages become sluggishly desperate. They will actively seek to avoid activity and find a source of ultraviolet light, or alternatively sit down and hibernate. Even separatists are capable of hibernating for literally hundreds of years if they are unable to find a good source of light. In these conditions, the fungal colony symbiotically hybridized into the hemophage will slowly grow to encapsulate them and whatever they are sitting upon, forming a cobweblike cocoon. 'Sanguinis''' They call themselves "Old World Loyalists", or "Families of the Blood" or ''strigoi. ''Slang terms: Star vampires, Space vampires, Draculas Old World hemophagy costs '''5 character benefits '''during character creation. Old world hemophages receive the following characteristic adjustments: *+3 STR, +5 DEX, +3 SIZ. Consummate predators, the 'true hemophages' revel in the act of the hunt, and their physiques reflect this. Strong, incredibly fast and nimble, and tall. *Claw and bite attacks. True hemophages deal 1D6+1+db damage with their claws, and 2D8 with their tearing bites. Armor ratings are increased by half versus true hemophage bites, however. *-5 POW. Hemophages do not have the same psychic potential as humans, particularly true hemophages. Additionally, true hemophages are psychologically unstable and prone to rapid loss of sanity. *-3 APP. True hemophages are unsettling to look upon and culturally indifferent to anyone but their own kind. Some, however, do have a certain grace to them, or features that are less outright horrific. *True hemophages are impossibly fast. They build heat in the following ways: **Take an additional action of any sort at any moment during play. Each extra action builds 1 heat. **Double dodge % and apply that roll towards two attacks. This builds 1 heat. The hemophage may extend that roll to additional attacks in a round, incrementing heat by 1 per attack after the first two. **Bypass armor with one attack, if it hits. This builds 1 heat. For 1 additional point of heat, the hemophage may ensure that attack impales. **When using any of these feats of velocity, the hemophage may move as part of the action. Doing so shifts their position faster than most eyes can see. **True hemophage sprint speed and jump distance are 1.5x normal, always. They can apply the 'extra action' feat of velocity to extend these by themselves for truly incredible sprinting or jumping distances. *Free of the heat mechanic, true hemophages gain a fairly straightforward skill, Wallcrawling, at DEXx2%. This allows hemophages to scale any surface without climbing equipment or assistance, and can be rolled as part of any running movement action to extend that movement along a wall with no floor beneath it. At half Wallcrawling, a hemophage may crawl across a ceiling. Vertical or ceiling movement is at half normal speed. *True hemophages consume blood not for energy, but for nutrition. They instead propagate their energy reserves through exposure to light. As a result, a certain amount of skin exposure is most comfortable for a hemophage depending on ultraviolet conditions within their environment. They are also effectively cold-blooded, though their activity cycle is more strongly determined via light absorption than thermal energy. **In bright, direct ultraviolet light, hemophages begin overproducing energy to where their photosynthetic epidermis begins burning away, both damaging them and immediately throwing them into severe heat exhaustion. Many hemophages cover up in broad daylight, but doing so also risks heat exhaustion. The best situation for them is to remain indoors and cuddle an air conditioning vent. **In moderate light, risk of burnout is only an issue if a hemophage falls prey to the instinctive 'high activity' cycle their bodies will encourage them to. They might seem manic or hyperactive. **In dim light, hemophages typically begin to expose more skin, whether through rolling sleeves up, loosening collars, or removing exterior garments. If the dim light is accompanied by low temperatures, usually they will be driven even more to draw in what light there is, simply to keep warm. **In darkness, hemophages become sluggishly desperate. They will actively seek to avoid activity and find a source of ultraviolet light, or alternatively sit down and hibernate. Even separatists are capable of hibernating for literally hundreds of years if they are unable to find a good source of light. In these conditions, the fungal colony symbiotically hybridized into the hemophage will slowly grow to encapsulate them and whatever they are sitting upon, forming a cobweblike cocoon. Category:About Category:Homotype Category:Mechanics